I just joined the club last month when they were showcasing the suman posts and holy--- the members were amazing! I had this mixed feelings of being so inspired and yet so daunted.
Inspired because the members are so dedicated and passionate about writing their blogs. You see, having it on a regular basis is really very challenging for me to fit in my 60 - 80 work week schedule.
Daunted because the members are just so good at what they do! I know for sure I can cook but to cook and take a picture and write about it??? Good luck on me on that!
Anyhow, this month's theme for the Kulinarya Cooking Club is Relleno. First thing that came to my mind was Bangus Relleno (Stuffed Milkfish). I made dozens of them already since its part of my menu but I always wanted to know about Chicken Relleno. I never had an opportunity of deboning a whole chicken but have always wanted to do so especially for a chicken relleno, which, for quite some time has been in my "projects" folder. So this month's theme was just absolutely perfect for me. It's just a way to actually do it and stop putting it off.
So let us begin...
The DEBONING: I have been searching the internet for videos and how-to's on how to debone a chicken correctly and I must say, I didn't really find much that catches my fancy but I did find what Connie of
Home Cooking Rocks said, "like taking off like a button less shirt". For some reason, its just stored in my memory and that's all I think of. I didn't even bother reading again the step by step procedure but just imagine a shirt coming off from the bottom and pulling it upwards through the head and then the arms. I took a very sharp small knife and centimeter by centimeter, I started slashing meat in snippets away from the bone from the bottom working all the way up. Trust me, I was so scared that I will rip off the skin and ruin the entire chicken but I always reminded myself that if will not succeed in this take, I will definitely master one virtue -- Patience. That's right, just a small knife and lots of patience. Like literally work as if you are separating every piece of fiber and tendon. So after 30 minutes of focus and sheer patience, I was able to debone a whole chicken for the first time.
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| This was before... with bones. |
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| And after! No bones except the wings. |
I put salt, pepper, soya sauce and lemon on the chicken and marinated it overnight.
The STUFFING:
There are so many variations for the Chicken Relleno and I always wanted to have the traditional one. I have always wanted to incorporate this in my menu and what a perfect time to do this during Christmas Season! Having said about different versions and one ingredient that makes the Filipino Rellenong Manok (Chicken) is the Chorizo. I made sure that I have it today and nothing else really mattered. But for today's relleno, I have to deviate to the traditional route. Mr. Flips just came back from up north and just starving for dinner so I have no recourse but to alter it to no-pork relleno.
Ingredients for the stuffing:
5 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 Diced Onions
1 Green Bell Peppers
1 stalk of celery
1 slices of beef bacon
1/2 cup Pecans
3 Slices of Sour Dough Bread
1/4 cup Sundried Tomatoes
50 gms of Cream Cheese
3 tbps of Capers
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 eggs, hard-boiled
Saute garlic in olive oil. Add onions until light. Add celery. Add bacon. Stir in the sundried tomatoes, capers, cheese and pecans and bread. Let it cook for bit until the bread softens slightly. Remove from heat and let it cool.
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The cooked stuffing!
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Basically, this comes easy now. Just stuff the chicken and put the hard-boiled eggs in between.
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| Once filled, close the chicken. But wait a sec, I didn't want to sew in order to close it up so i have this "shortcut" idea... |
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SKEWERS!!!! LOL
Then, bake @ 375F for about 1 hour or until done. |
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| Remotely traditional recipe but so delicious! We had a ranch/blue cheese dressing on the side as the sauce. It complements so well. Try it... hmm so good!!! |
Kulinarya Cooking Club was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.
Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.
